Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Bengals Watch Cowher Being 'Rude'
Steelers Coach Caught Using Cheer
By JOE KAY
AP Sports
CINCINNATI (Sept. 21) - Many Cincinnati Bengals weren't even aware that their "Who Dey" cheer spurred another team to a Super Bowl title last season.
During a team meeting Wednesday, coach Marvin Lewis played video of Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher leading the "Who Dey" cheer in the Steelers' locker room after their playoff victory at Paul Brown Stadium last January.
In the video, Cowher triumphantly asks "Who Dey?" - as in, "Who Dey Think Gonna Beat Dem Bengals?" - and Steelers players respond, "We Dey!" The video was shot in the locker room after that 31-17 win on Jan. 8, the one in which Carson Palmer 's knee was shredded on his first pass by Steelers lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen .
Some Bengals watched the video and laughed. Others took offense.
"I didn't like it," receiver Chad Johnson . "It was very rude."
Of course, Johnson saw nothing wrong with using a Terrible Towel as a bib for interviews leading up to the Bengals' regular-season game in Pittsburgh last season, escalating the tit-for-tat nature of the rivalry.
Lewis' video session struck some veterans as a standard coaching ploy for their game Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Bengals won the AFC North last season, but the Steelers knocked them out of the playoffs and went on to win the Super Bowl.
"I've been around for 10 years," defensive end Bryan Robinson said. "I guess for some guys, that's what you need to get going; then, that's all fine and dandy. Coaches will find different things like that to see what he can arouse out of that. I'm sure that got some guys going.
"I was laughing. They won that game and they had every right to say 'We Dey.' If we're going to say 'Who Dey?' they had every right to say that."
Cowher knew it would come up.
Not only did he use the Bengals' cheer after that playoff win, he dusted it off again at a downtown celebration of the Steelers' Super Bowl victory. He concluded the rally by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and leading the cheer:
"Who Dey? Who Dey? Who Dey? Who Dey think gonna beat the NFL?
"Pittsburgh Steelers , world champs!"
In a conference call with Cincinnati writers on Wednesday, Cowher handled the matter delicately.
"I'll say this: Imitation is the greatest form of flattery," Cowher said. "I have a lot of respect for that organization, for that football team. Maybe (it was) getting caught up in the moment. But like I said, last year's last year."
Lewis was Cowher's linebackers coach in Pittsburgh for four years in the 1990s, and remains an admirer. At least publicly, he was diplomatic about Cowher turning into a cheer stealer.
"The time after the game is an emotional part ... you've been in there grinding, and I'm sure it is something that probably their players picked up on and so forth, just like our guys pick up on the Terrible Towel," Lewis said. "There's nothing to that."
If so, then why show the video to his team?
"We do a lot of different things every morning," he said.
While he was rehabilitating his left knee, Palmer watched the Steelers roll through the playoffs and thought his team should have been the one getting a title in Detroit . Thoughts of their rematch gave Palmer motivation during his rehabilitation, and he even acknowledged that he "hates" the Steelers.
But not for stealing the cheer.
"Some people have different opinions about that," Palmer said. "I don't think much of it. I'm sure they were excited to beat us and move on in the playoffs.
"Who knows what we're going to be saying if we have a chance to beat them and move on? It's part of the fun of the game."
Reggie McNeal might be taking over as kick returner while Tab Perry is out.
He is fast, but he was a QB in college and I dont think he has much experience returning kicks. My main concern with him is if he can actually hold on to the ball without fumbling it. If he cant handle the job, then my guess is Kenny Watson will be the one who fills in for Tab.
What about Keiwan?
The team won't say it to the media, but that has to be some really good motivation into this game, like they needed any. I mean come on, its the team that injured you're star QB in the first round of the playoffs, a division rival, and now this. If Bengals/Steelers doesn't turn out to be one of the biggest rivalries in not only the NFL, but all professional sports, then I don't know what a rivalry is. Sometimes I think the "Who-Dey" chant means more to the fans, especially ones who have been around a while, than the players on the team right now. You can't tell me that Cowher didn't fuel the fire just a little bit with his chant.
As for the game, I think the keys to the game are just the same as every other game. Stop the run, stop the big play, don't turn the ball over, and control the clock. Mistakes are hard to make up on the road, especially at Heinz Field. The Steelers Offense may not be the force that the Bengals' Offense is, or even where they were last year, but give an offense a short field, they will make you pay for it more often than not.
The Steelers D is the strength of this team. You probably aren't going to score a lot. That means that the difference in this game might come down to the Bengals' D and special teams. Ahh, but therin lies the injury problems. Most notably on Defense with Jackson and Pollack. Both potentially huge losses against keeping big plays to a minimum (Jackson) and pass rush (Pollack). The O-line loses a very important part (Steinback), but could also gain Jones. Special teams loses probably its most valuable player in Tab Perry. The guy is a difference maker plain and simple. The difference that can be made by special teams will often win a game for a team.
A lot of people are worried about the WR corps. I'm not one of them, especially if T.J. is able to go. This team is very deep at WR. Chad Johnson, T.J., Henry, and Washington are still a very good combo. Without T.J. there aren't many options for replacement, but it wouldn't take a great reciever to add as a fourth guy to make this a very formitable group on Sunday.
What the Bengals have going for them is a very good Offense with an O-line that gives up little in the way of sacks, a very good RB in Rudi Johnson, and a star QB. Take some pressure off the D and they can do a lot of different things. The fact is that the Steelers also have some glaring problems that could play a huge factor. Will Big Ben be up to where he was last year, or is there still some rust. I would have to think it will take a couple more games for him to get in sync with the rest of the offense. There offense on a whole has taken a step back it would seem at this point in the young season. The D will always be there, but can they slow the Bengals down enough so their Offense can keep up? I certainly have a hard time that any team can when the Bengals are hitting on all cylinders in the no-huddle offense.
As for a prediction, I think the Bengals have a slight edge because of the short week, but more importantly because of the Steelers Offense being behind the Defense at this point in the season. They'll get the offense in order at some point, I just don't think it will be against the Bengals. I'll take the Bengals by a touchdown.`
Braham is the offensive lineman out this Sunday (not Steinbach)
Or sending Pepto-Bismol to Browns defenders (who shut his butt down in that game )
If you are going to play that game Chad, love the attention and being a showboat, then dont get all upset when it's thrown back at you (and your team). Two-way street baby!
Are you going to say that if the Bengals had won that game last year that the players (and fans) wouldn't have been rubbing it in the faces of the Steelers and their fans? Give me a break!
But if playing the tape motivates the Bengals, then fine. That is what it's all about.
It's all about bragging rights, and trying to win them. Every NFL team does it.
I don't like it, and have never liked excessive player celebration and taunting.
But that is what the game has evolved to anymore.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
I do not agree. It's one thing for a player to be silly and celebrate and talk trash but it's quite another when it's the head coach doing it. That's the biggest difference here. I'd expect this stuff from Chad and Joey Porter and Kellen Winslow types but the head coach should stay above that. Cowher did not do that after the playoff win and he repeated himself at the parade in Pittsburgh. That's the point here, imho.
I don't really enjoy this type of stuff either, I'd rather players comport themselves and celebrate like Rudi Johnson or Marvin Harrison. Sadly, Rudi/Marvin are the exception to Chad/Joey/Kellen types any more.
I agree, coaches should be above that sort of thing. But Cowher is who he is: fiery, emotional and a tad bit immature. But of all people, Chad Johnson should understand immaturity.
Normally, I enjoy Chad's antics and find the pre-game posturing entertaining. But this week, for some reason, I would much prefer that the Bengals said nothing...then beat Steelers up and down the field on Sunday.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
All the pregame chatter is in the perspective that it doesn't mean squat once the kicker puts his toe into the ball. It is fun stuff to have that sort of stuff going on in a rivalry, but has no effect on the outcome of a game. Good to see some guys in the locker room understand that. As is generally the case, balance , balance, balance.
"I've been around for 10 years," defensive end Bryan Robinson said. "I guess for some guys, that's what you need to get going; then, that's all fine and dandy. Coaches will find different things like that to see what he can arouse out of that. I'm sure that got some guys going.
From the story at bengals.com:
It almost sounds to me like the AP story wanted to get a hit on Chad. They not only took his quote out of context, but they made a comment about it to try to make Chad sound even more immature.Johnson, who hadn’t seen it until the Lewis unveiling, called it “very rude.” But at the same time, as one Trash Talker to another, he didn’t mind it.
“They won the game,” Johnson said. “One of the things that we say is, ‘Who-Dey,’ so he just turned it around and used it as motivation for his team as they rode down the playoffs. No problem with it.”
A coach that trash talks?
“They all do it,” Johnson said. “It’s just that was caught on camera.”
But Johnson objected to former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis’s assertion that Pittsburgh ran on the fire of watching Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh wipe their shoes on the Terrible Towel after the Bengals win in Pittsburgh.
“It went beyond a win. It's one thing to win, but that took it to the next level; it became a grudge match,” Bettis said when he was here last month as an NBC analyst.
“Did they still lose?” Johnson asked. “They don’t remember that. That had nothing to do with that.”
Chad clearly said he didn't mind it according to Bengals.com, but said nothing but it was rude according to the AP. For some reason, I don't think Joe Kay is a fan of Chad Johnson.Of course, Johnson saw nothing wrong with using a Terrible Towel as a bib for interviews leading up to the Bengals' regular-season game in Pittsburgh last season, escalating the tit-for-tat nature of the rivalry.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |